Since early Highlands history, the town has been known for its hospitality. Highlands was founded in 1875 by developers Samuel T. Kelsey and Clinton C. Hutchinson, who promoted the area as a “plateau in the sky,” with clean air, health benefits, and a perfect climate.
Throughout our history, the tourism industry and the hotels and inns that have supported it have stimulated the town’s local businesses, real estate values, infrastructure, and culture. The hotels and their guests also promoted local conservation efforts through advertising of Highlands natural landscape as a draw of the town.
The number of people settling in the Highlands plateau began to pick up throughout the second half of the 1800s. These early residents were hardy pioneers from across the nation, sober industrious tradesmen from the North, Scotch-Irish laborers and craftsmen from the surrounding mountains and valleys, and wealthy aristocratic planters and professionals from the South.
These are the individuals who began opening up the town’s industries of logging, mining, and hospitality. Although less significant in the early years of Highlands, hospitality played a big role in attracting visitors and settlers to the town since even before it was officially incorporated. Most early visitors came for the often talked about Highlands’ nature and clean air. Early advertisements for the town boast of the comfortable climate and healing environment. Many of the well-known early visitors were botanists, biologists, and naturalists passing through the area to study our diverse flora and fauna.
The earliest boarding house in Highlands was Central House, now known as Old Ewards Inn. Central House was built in July 1878 when owner John Norton paid $60 for the land and constructed a two-and-a-half-story structure. The boarding houses, which were once prevalent in Highlands, were often more informal than hotels and came with social rituals such as communal meals, porch sitting, and evening conversation amongst guests.
Although Central House is given the title of the first boarding house, the first hotel built in Highlands was Highlands House (Highlands Inn). In 1880, just two years after building Central House, Norton exchanged the business with Joseph Halleck. In return, he received the freshly finished Highlands House. The establishment of the first hotel marked a shift towards hospitality as an industry for the town of Highlands, which has continued in the 150 years since.
The first few decades of the 1900s saw an explosion in recreational guests to Highlands. The town had more resorts, country clubs, and nature trails and facilities open up to attract more visitors. Outdoor recreation became a bigger part of the tourism industry with the numerous golf courses and natural preserves. To accommodate the growing number of visitors, more hotels, inns, and boarding houses opened up throughout the town. The hotels would sometimes host parties for the guests and publish guest registers to encourage socialization within the hotel and across town.
Like with many towns across America, the late 1930s and 1940s saw a slowdown in the hospitality industry due to the Great Depression and World War II. In the following years, some of Highlands’ grand hotels were lost to fire or demolition. However, the loss of these buildings led to a growing community appreciation for architectural heritage and the historic character of Highlands. This led to emphasis on restoration and protection of historic structures in the later decades of the 1900s.
Today, tourism has evolved to include hotels, resorts, cottages, and homes rented out to vacationers. Highlands is still a popular destination for those looking to enjoy the natural landscape of the Plateau. Throughout our history, the historic hotels in Highlands have not been relics but living institutions connecting past and present.
More information on these historic hotels and inns can be found in the Highlands Historical Society Museum.
The museum and the rest of the historic village will open on May 7, with our Season Opening Celebration taking place on Saturday, May 23. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit the Historical Society website at highlandshistory.com for more information about Highlands History and the Historic Village.
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